How dangerous is marijuana? Is it riskier than alcohol? Apparently, it's not all that dangerous, according to a new poll. In fact, Americans apparently see marijuana as being a less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol and sugar.
Currently, the Department of Justice classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 substance, which means that it's the most dangerous, according to The Washington Post. Yet this is in stark contrast to the public's perception of the drug-which could partly be due to the recent outbreak of legalization of medical marijuana across the country.
Colorado legalized marijuana sales as of Jan. 1, according to USA Today. Since then, marijuana has wound up in edibles, including brownies and beef jerky, that are consumed by individuals across the state. Massachusetts has also recently awarded the first 20 licenses to operate medical marijuana dispensaries, and even southern states are changing their views on weed.
That said, the new poll doesn't show that American doubt marijuana has any negative effects; instead, it shows that people believe that these effects no longer stand out from any other major causes of health problems, according to The Washington Post.
The new poll shows that people believe that tobacco is the most harmful to health (49 percent), followed by alcohol (24 percent), sugar (15 percent), and then marijuana (8 percent). This idea that marijuana isn't as harmful to health as sugar shows a drastic shift in attitudes, according to The Oregonian.
You can see the entire poll, conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, here.
